Itís time to bring everyone in on a
little secret. Last February 2002, T J Alcott was approached by the
producer of Junkyard Wars, RDF to discuss a challenge using paintball tanks
and cannons, built from scratch out of junk found in their junkyard. If
you haven't seen it yet, Junkyard Wars is a competition show on The Learning
Channel. Teams of three competitors are each joined up with an expert
in a specific field and challenged to build something in a single day with
only what they can find in the show's junkyard. After construction,
the two teams compete with their devices. Past challenges have included
drag racers, walking machines, hovercraft and siege machines.

TJ volunteered my name (THANK YOU TJ!!)
and a few days later, I received a call inquiring if I was interested in
being an expert on one of the Junkyard Wars teams.

Excuse me?! Let be check my calendar.
hmmmm. Might be able to squeeze in a few days to build a tank and cannon
and play paintball. Just kidding!! Just kidding!!! I couldn't sit still
for days contemplating the possibilities of being part of a television
show about my love, my other wife, paintball tanks and cannons!

I was asked if there was anyone else
that might be interested, because they needed two experts and a judge who
were familiar with the subject. I suggested Paul Hoard of War Wagon, Gerald
Henderson (Demo Goblin) and Marty Tippmann of Tippmann Ordinance. Later,
they thought a girl would be interesting, so I suggested Dawn Mills of
WARPIG. After several weeks, RDF settled on Paul Hoard and me to
be the experts, Joe Tippmann and Beatrice Youngs (Smarts Parts) to be the
two judges. (Sorry TJ).

On
the weekend of April 13, 14, we flew into LA and were checked into a motel.
Monday, Paul and I visited the famous Junkyard and were fitted for our
Junkyard jumpsuits. That evening, we met more people of the production
crew and were introduced to the contestants. It was a very big deal
that we not let on what our specialty was or what the contest was to be
about. Paul and I were encouraged to mislead our teams as much as we wanted.
I went out to dinner with my team, the Brooklyn Benders and had a great
time answering their questions, but telling them nothing about the challenge.

Tuesday morning at 6:00 am, we were
all piled into a van and trucked out to the junkyard where we suited up
and fell into the routine of filming a TV show. Listen to the instructions,
make the moves, show the surprise and have lots of fun! By the time
we got through practicing the opening moves, the teams were convinced that
we were building jet skis and would be racing them! You cannot imagine
the looks of amazement when, with the cameras rolling, they were introduced
to the paintball and told they would be building a tank and a cannon and
on contest day, would be playing paintball!

All day, 10 hours, we scrounged, bargained
for and built our two tanks and cannons. This is not an easy task when
the junkyard is full of old cars, left over builds from former shows and
a few, very well hidden but crucial parts for a paintball cannon.

Paul's team, Bronx Bravest built a tank
from a van. My team, the Brooklyn Benders, built ours out of an EZ GO golf
cart. For those of you that don't know, this is what Paul and I have been
playing paintball in for the past several years. This was the
concept of the whole challenge, big versus small. Which tank would
have the advantage?

Wednesday was safety day. Paul and I
visited the junkyard to meet with the engineers while the teams took the
day off to sightsee in LA. Paul and I ended up spending the whole day just
puttering. It is so neat just to be there!

Thursday was contest day. The whole
morning was spent with Joe Tippmann and Beatrice Youngs shooting their
segment of the show which was dedicated to paintball, it's history and
what it is today. Then the teams were called onto the contest field, a
vacant industrial yard, strewn with railroad ties, junk cars and strategically
placed vantage points for cameras. The challenge consisted of shooting
first a 12", then a 6" and finally a 3" round target bolted to the back
of each tank using a cannon mounted on our tank. The van had an impressive
turret mounted cannon on top and two side cannons near the rear. The golf
cart had a large cannon sticking out the front and a small cannon on top
that could shoot in 360 degrees.

I
won't say who came in first or second because that would give away the
dramatic ending to the show.

Paintball has enjoyed some good and
bad press over the years, thanks to TV and its producers. RDF, Paul, Joe,
Beatrice and I made it clear that this was to be a GOOD show for paintball,
focusing on the fun, competition and safety of the sport. The people you
see on the set will all be wearing approved safety masks and showing safe
ways to handle paintball markers. I can tell you, the entire shoot was
done with safety in mind and there were no injuries. The actual tank battle
got quite exciting with a van racing through this pile of railroad ties
and junk cars, but at no time was anyone in danger nor did anyone get hurt.

Paul and I hope that you will watch
and enjoy the show in September, that you will tell your friends and that
you will use this as a way to promote paintball in a positive manner.
The Paintball Tanks episode of Junkyard Wars is scheduled to air 9:00 pm,
Wed, Sept 18, 7:00 pm Sun, Sept 22 on The Learning Channel. You can
double check air times for your cable or satellite provider at www.tvguide.com.